I’m 33 with $3.5 million in the bank and am considering taking a sabbatical – what would you do?

A Reddit user with $3.5 million invested is considering either a sabbatical or a career pivot. 

The Redditor said he is 33 years old and has worked in finance for 10 years.  He makes $650K per year, most of which is cash compensation, and has been earning that amount steadily for a few years with no big projected increases unless he switches employers. The problem is that he is feeling very burned out by his job and has felt that way for around three to four years.

Now, he’s trying to decide what to do because working doesn’t feel worth it anymore. He’s invested $3.5 million, he spends only $150K per year to live a comfortable lifestyle and could get that down to $120K, and he wants to make a change. He’s trying to decide if he should take off of work for around six to 12 months in order to recharge, or if he should make a career pivot to something that he might enjoy more like buying a small business. 

So, what’s the best course of action?

Is a career pivot or a sabbatical the best move?

Since the Reddit user has $3.5 million, he’s in a pretty good position already so he has some flexibility to make the choices that are right for him — but he can’t really afford to just retire yet. 

He explained that around $400K of his money is in retirement accounts that he isn’t going to be able to access for a while. He also has:

• $300K in a taxable brokerage account
• $250K in vested illiquid stock options
• $2.25 million in private equity or private credit investments.

So, most of his net worth is invested and could start producing income — but likely not enough. At a safe 3.7% withdrawal rate, his nest egg could produce around $129,500 at most. That might be doable since he said he could get by on $120K but it doesn’t leave him much of a cushion. He could take time off and just withdraw more than the amount recommended since his career pause would only be temporary — but that may not be the best move long-term. 

The big question is, would pausing from his high-pressure career and returning to a position in finance later be better than making a career switch in this situation?

Taking time off may not make sense — but there are other options 

While taking time off may seem attractive, the reality is that a big employment gap may not be the best solution for the OP. Taking off months of work and starting to eat into his nest egg could lead to the Redditor having fewer options later — especially since he doesn’t really have enough money to quit work for good, so will have to jump back into the workforce eventually.  

Instead, the Redditor may want to do one of two things:

• Stick it out at his current job or find another one in finance for another few years to amass enough money that he can retire very early with plenty of money to enjoy. Then, he won’t just be pausing a job he hates. He can quit for good. 
• Find a job that he’s passionate about, regardless of pay, and plan to stay there for a long time while supplementing his income with his savings. 

The first option means he may have to cope with a few more years of burnout, but then he can live the rest of his life with true financial freedom. The second option allows him to be happy sooner but relies on him finding work he actually wants to do.

Buying a business as he suggested could be pretty high risk if it takes up a huge chunk of his savings and the company ends up failing, so building one from the ground up or finding a job with an existing company he enjoys could be better options. Those solutions would protect his $3.5 million in investments while still allowing him to try something new. 

Both of these solutions can make more sense than draining some of his savings just to take a few months off work and find himself back in the position of figuring out what to do next. The Redditor may want to talk with a financial advisor to help him see how each one would influence his long-term financial security, so he can decide which option truly makes the most sense for him. 

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